Sad but True
by the Cheshire Cat
Summary: A girl, two guys. One she loves, the other loves her.


Sad but True  
by ^death^ Himura  
  
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Disclaimer: The characters in the story do not belong to me. Neither does the song and the lyrics.  
  
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"Are you sure about this Cid?" Cloud asked, one eyebrow arched in a questioning gesture. The elder male gave him a lop-sided grin.  
  
"As sure as ever Strife. The best bar, the best songs and the best booze. Everything for free."  
  
"And how so?" Clearly the ex-SOLDIER was curious as to why everything was free. For him. Tonight. He saw Cid roll his eyes as though he had been repeating the same line to him again and again.  
  
"Because I own this joint. now sit back and relax buddy." Cid Highwin pused Cloud Strife into a leather chair which faced the small stage at the back of the bar. The band was busy setting up their instruments as the bar slowly filled up with people.   
  
Tourists, soldiers and the general working class of society.  
  
"I don't like the sound no the looks of this." Muttered the blonde as he reached for his glass of beer, his mako-enhanced eyes scanning the room surreptiously. His companiond, Red XIII, gave a non-committal shrug and then lapsed off into his own world.  
  
***  
  
"Is everything all right in the front?" Asked the trembling voice.  
  
"As sure as it ought to be babe." Cid gave the girl a wink and an encouraging smile. "Now get up there and do yer stuff. If he *still* doesn't know it then I reckon you ditch him for me." He grinned as he watched the smile he was so familiar of light up her face.   
  
She nodded her head.  
  
"Good. We'll be rooting for ya!" He added and then vanished from the corridor. The girl leaned back against the wall, covering her face with her hands, and muttered a chant to herself.  
  
'I can do it. I can do it. I can do it." Punctuating the final statement with more vibrance, she pushed herself away from the wall and entered the backstage, the noise of the growing crowd filling her ears.  
  
I will sing for you...  
  
***  
  
"Where's Aeris?" Cloud asked as Cid returned to their table. He gave Cloud a blank stare and then shrugged his shoulders.  
  
"Dunnoe." He had wanted to add don't bother and don't care but figured that starting a fight with the spiky-haired asshole was the last thing on his mind. Then the lights went off, all save for those that illuminated the stage.  
  
The band began striking up a tune.  
  
Slow, soft and so utterly melancholic.  
  
All who were there were transfixed by the notes that struck a chord in their hearts, alleviated more so by the demure figure which had suddenly appeared in the middle of the stage.  
  
Clad in a simple white dress that reached her ankles, flowers wreathed in her lustrous dark brown hair. She was bare-footed, her face free from pollutants and bare save for a simple feathery mask.  
  
Then she opened her mouth and her melodious voice swam out, swirling together with the melancholic notes of the song.  
  
***  
  
//??Well I wonder could it be  
When I was dreaming 'bout you baby  
You were dreaming of me  
Call me crazy, call me blind  
To still be suffering is stupid after all of this time//  
  
//Did I lose my love to someone better  
And does she love you like I do  
I do, you know I really really do//  
  
//Well hey  
So much I need to say  
Been lonely since the day  
The day you went away  
So sad but true  
For me there's only you  
Been crying since the day  
The day you went away//  
  
***  
  
So familiar... that was his first thought.   
  
She was so familiar. The hair, the physique. The voice. It reminded him of something, of someplace.  
  
Of someone.  
  
But it couldn't be...  
  
She was so far away... so very far away.  
  
But he listened anyway, his eyes transfixed on her, not ever blinking. Afraid that if he did, she too would vanish without a trace.  
  
***  
  
//I remember date and time  
September twenty second  
Sunday twenty five after nine  
In the doorway with your case  
No longer shouting at each other  
There were tears on our faces//  
  
//And we were letting go of something special  
Something we'll never have again  
I know, I guess I really really know//  
  
//Well hey  
So much I need to say  
Been lonely since the day  
The day you went away  
So sad but true  
For me there's only you  
Been crying since the day  
The day you went away//  
  
//The day you went away  
The day you went away//  
  
***  
  
She had stopped a little and then turned away from the audience. All throughout her song she had been watching him. Never leaving her eyes of him, wanting to be sure that he knew this song was for him.  
  
Hoping with all her might that he could read between the lines.  
  
That for once he wouldn't be the shallow and narrow-minded fighter she had always known him to be.  
  
Please... just remember me... don't turn me into another lost and fading memory...  
  
***  
  
//Did I lose my love to someone better  
And does she love you like I do  
I do, you know I really really do//  
  
//Well hey  
So much I need to say  
Been lonely since the day  
The day you went away  
So sad but true  
For me there's only you  
Been crying since the day  
The day you went away//  
  
***  
  
He watched the pair with guarded eyes. Was that recognition he saw? Or merely amusement.   
  
So hard to know, to understand, to feel.  
  
She was there, standing, singing. With all her heart, just for him.  
  
Only for him.  
  
She had returned one final time to get a final glimpse of him, before she continued on with her life.  
  
Away.  
  
From him, from them.  
  
He could only watch from afar. Watch how his reaction would undoubtedly affect her. Determine her actions, affect her decisions.  
  
Would he remember?  
  
Would he know?  
  
Or would he just think it was one of those other pretty faces he'd met one too many a time before?  
  
***  
  
//Why do we never know what we've got 'til it's gone  
How could I carry on  
The day you went away  
Cause I've been missing you so much I have to say  
Been crying since the day  
The day you went away//  
  
//The day you went away  
The day you went away//  
  
***  
  
The music ended and the crowd immediately got to their feet to give a round of applause. Yet Cloud remained where he was, still trying to figure out where he had seen her.  
  
He had noticed.  
  
She kept looking at him.  
  
Or was it?  
  
Then she was moving away, back into the darkness of the curtains. It was all over...  
  
***  
  
Dearest Cid,  
Thank you for everything you've done. From keeping my return a secret, as well as my identity back at the bar. Thanks for giving me a roof over my head for the brief period of my stay and also the news over the well-being of the group. I guess I can't help but thank you a lot. For being a good friend and for being there.   
  
Love,  
Tifa Lockheart  
  
***  
  
"You're leaving so soon?"  
  
"Yeah... ship's leaving the docks tomorrow at dawn."  
  
"Why can't you stay awhile?"  
  
"You know I can't?" Just a soft smile...  
  
"No, I don't." Grim determination.  
  
"Cid..."  
  
"Dammit Tifa! I know how you feel. To love someone so much and not have it returned back to you. To want to hold, care, love and cherish that person until you sicken everyone to death with your extreme mushiness!" She was taken aback, her chocolate-brown eyes widening.  
  
"Cid?"  
  
"Dammit Tifa! Don't you know? I love you..." And then his voice broke... "Ever since the day we first met. Since I first laid eyes on you... I knew I loved you."  
  
Silence.  
  
"Tifa?"  
  
Silence and then she suddenly turned to face him, her eyes brimming with unshed tears. Tears once reserved only for a certain blonde haired soldier who never once gave a dime about her.  
  
Comfort and warmth diffused from the former stranger in front of her and she clung on to it.   
  
It doesn't matter if the one you truly love doesn't return in kind, be thankful that you still have someone to love and that'll make the pain so much easier... it will eventually fade away.  
  
=================  
  
Author's Notes: yeah... this was done shot-gun style. No true meaning and depth in it. ARGH!!! Never mind. I'll try better for the next one. Maybe I should have just sent this to the recycling bin... 


End file.
